Programs

Bio

James M. Lindsay is senior vice president, director of studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg chair at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where he oversees the work of the more than six dozen fellows in the David Rockefeller Studies Program. He is a leading authority on the American foreign policy–making process and the domestic politics of American foreign policy.

Before returning to CFR in 2009, Dr. Lindsay was the inaugural director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin, where he held the Tom Slick chair for international affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. From 2003 to 2006, he was vice president, director of studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg chair at CFR. He previously served as deputy director and senior fellow in the foreign policy studies program at the Brookings Institution. From 1987 until 1999, he was a professor of political science at the University of Iowa.

From 1996 to 1997, Dr. Lindsay was director for global issues and multilateral affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. He has also served as a consultant to the United States Commission on National Security/21st Century (Hart-Rudman Commission) and as a staff expert for the United States Institute of Peace's congressionally mandated Task Force on the United Nations.

Dr. Lindsay has written widely on various aspects of American foreign policy and international relations. His book with Ivo H. Daalder, America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy, was awarded the 2003 Lionel Gelber Prize, named a finalist for the Arthur S. Ross Book Award, and selected as a top book of 2003 by the Economist. His other books include Agenda for the Nation (with Henry J. Aaron and Pietro S. Nivola), which was named an "Outstanding Academic Book of 2004" by Choice magazine; and Congress and the Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy. He has also contributed articles to the op-ed pages of many major newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. He writes the blog The Water's Edge, which discusses the politics of American foreign policy and the domestic underpinnings of American global power.

Dr. Lindsay holds an AB in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and an MA, MPhil, and PhD from Yale University. He has been a fellow at the Center for International Affairs and the Center for Science and International Affairs, both at Harvard University. He is a recipient of the Pew Faculty Fellowship in International Affairs and an International Affairs Fellowship from the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Lindsay was born in Winchester, Massachusetts, in 1959 and lives in the Washington, DC, suburbs.

Featured Publications

James M. Lindsay argues that while Congress has no direct role in the conduct of U.S. diplomacy, it can nonetheless still shape what presidents say to foreign governments or if they say anything at all.

Renewing America

James M. Lindsay argues that while the United States remains the most significant military, diplomatic, and economic power in a changing geopolitical environment, it faces increasing difficulty in driving the global agenda.

This week, the podcast will air the first episode of The President's Inbox. CFR's James M. Lindsay, Robert McMahon, and Elizabeth N. Saunders examine President-Elect Donald Trump's two most immediate priorities: assembling a new administration and deciding how to start his presidency.

CFR's James M. Lindsay, Robert McMahon, and Elizabeth N. Saunders examine President-Elect Donald Trump's two most immediate priorities: assembling a new administration and deciding how to start his presidency.

The President's Inbox, a Council on Foreign Relations podcast hosted by James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon, examines challenges awaiting the next U.S. president. Tune in each Thursday to hear Lindsay, McMahon, and a rotating panel of CFR experts discuss trade, immigration, Russia, China, and more.

In this special edition, CFR's Director of Studies James Lindsay, CFR.org Managing Editor Robert McMahon, and Adjunct Senior Fellow Carla Anne Robbins examine the fifteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Events

The Roundtable Series on America's Governability Crisis focuses on the challenge of governing effectively during a time of sharp partisan polarization in Washington. The series seeks to examine the challenges that domestic division poses to developing and executing sound fiscal, economics, defense, and foreign policies. The series is held as part of the Renewing America initiative, which considers how policies at home will directly influence the economic and military strength of the United States and its ability to act in the world.

Part of CFR's Renewing America initiative, this roundtable series brings high-level attention to homegrown challenges to U.S. national security. Meetings in this series are led by individual CFR fellows and examine how policies at home will directly influence the economic and military strength of the United States and its ability to act in the world.

CFR Events

Meeting ⁄ Washington

DC CFR Fellows' Book Launch Series Guest Event: The Pragmatic Superpower--Winning the Cold War in the Middle East

SpeakersSteven Simon

Visiting Fellow, Dickey Center for International Understanding, Dartmouth College; Former Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Understanding Anti-Americanism

SpeakersPeter J. KatzensteinWalter S. Carpenter Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University, Robert O. KeohaneProfessor of International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Julia E. SweigNelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies and Director for Latin America Studies, Council on Foreign RelationsPresiderJames M. LindsayVice President and Director of Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

Press/Panels

As the 2016 presidential primaries approach, Charlie Cook, Sam Feist, and Jim Lindsay discuss the role that foreign policy will play in the upcoming contests for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations.

Jim Lindsay focuses on the relationship between foreign policy and domestic political considerations at the Council on Foreign Relations. He considers the domestic political fall-out from Obama’s Iran deal and the failed policies in Syria, surveys the candidates, and tells Jim Zirin that it is too early to predict whether these factors will affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

The UN Security Council has unanimously endorsed the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. The resolution, co-sponsored by all 15 members, authorises the lifting of sanctions in return for Iran curbing sensitive nuclear activities.

So does this deal represent a historic detente between the United States and the Islamic Republic? Or is it a dangerous appeasement of a rising terrorist power?

Jim Lindsay, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, spoke with Anthony Bubalo on the future of US leadership in the world. The conversation addressed US leadership challenges in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and preview the 2016 presidential election.

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Featured Press

As the 2016 presidential primaries approach, Charlie Cook, Sam Feist, and Jim Lindsay discuss the role that foreign policy will play in the upcoming contests for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations.

Jim Lindsay focuses on the relationship between foreign policy and domestic political considerations at the Council on Foreign Relations. He considers the domestic political fall-out from Obama’s Iran deal and the failed policies in Syria, surveys the candidates, and tells Jim Zirin that it is too early to predict whether these factors will affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

Jim Lindsay, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, spoke with Anthony Bubalo on the future of US leadership in the world. The conversation addressed US leadership challenges in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and preview the 2016 presidential election.